My name is Ramon Stoppelenburg (30).
When I was 24 I left my house in The Netherlands, on May 1, 2001, with a backpack filled with clothing, a digital camera, a laptop, and a mobile phone.
From May 2001 to July 2003 I travelled the world WITHOUT ANY MONEY, visiting people who invited me over through this website. I crossed distance with my thumb or with help of sponsors and supporters.
In return for all support I wrote about this all in my daily reports on this website.
In July 2003 I arrived back home after a 22-weeks trip through Canada. It was
then when I decided to quit.
I once quit my journalism study to travel the world. Thanks to global media
support and helpful sponsors I could travel to other countries and stay with
people who invited me over.
Most of the times it was all part of a media circus and I knew I couldn't
travel without it.
I shared popcorn with Geri Halliwell and shook hands with Steve 'The
Crocodile Hunter' Irwin. Britney Spears was published next to me in an American
newspaper and even in The Netherlands many magazines wrote about me and my
adventures.
American television networks followed this website about the 'notorious Dutch
freeloader who travelled the world since May 2001'. Every month millions of
people from all over the world read my reports. When I arrived in Oslo, Sydney
or Vancouver, I would already have a full mailbox of media requests.
In the last two years I have travelled through 18 countries, personally met
some 10,000 people on the road, slept in 500 different beds, ate some 1,500
meals and had some 600 showers. I have always wanted to travel because of the
cultures, the flavors, the scents, the people. I visited people in Africa,
Australia and North America, where I got all the way to the icey north of
Canada.
People had the strangest reasons to invite me over at their place. Out of
simple hospitality, or because they have travelled around themselves, or because
they loved to meet a Dutch person.
Of course it flattered me a lot when a tv-crew would follow me around for a
day (or more). And it was always interesting to tell people where my hometown
Zwolle can be found. "East of Amsterdam," I'd say. "Oh yes, Amsterdam!"
Of every single day on the road I took loads of photos and at night I sat
down behind my host's computers (later behind my own laptop) to write a
throrough daily report. The next day it was up and go again. And it was the same
thing everywhere again.
I continued for almost two years: moving from one place to another, meeting
strangers and updating this website for the online audience that would express
themselve on guestbooks and forums. This resulted in 7,000 photos and over 550
reports and two years of weekly columns for a Dutch newspaper.
You might understand now that I sometimes felt trapped in a cage that I had
created mysefl. When I wanted to get out, I knew I simply couldn't. It was like
having a full time job and the website was the family I had to support. If I
didn't do my thing well enough, my kids would complain.
The only way to get out was to go home and say: I quit. Just like that.
I know some people can be very happy with one job in a lifetime, but I didn't
see me travel the way I did for a very long time. I am even surprised that it
took me so long!
When I just finished this project in August 2003 I was very bitter about it
all. I did not want to think about it and for once not care about a website.
Fortunately things went better with me. Nowadays I look back much more
happier about the amazing feat I have accomplished.
I decided to do something else: to spend a period to write the book Letmestayforaday.com about my
travels. Something that's not virtual but real and where stories don'
t have to
keep a website alive, only memory. You will enjoy it, I know.
You can check out more about the book and what I'm doing at the moment on my personal homepage
www.ramonstoppelenburg.com.
Maybe, one day, I come up with another crazy idea!
Regards,
Ramon Stoppelenburg
This cartoon appeared in the Swizz newspaper Tages Anzeiger on February 11, 2004
Online videos!
During my travels through Canada I produced weekly one-minute-movies as an extra on this website. Unfortunately I had to take down all the 22 movies, because the webserver was making more datatraffic than I can afford.
Fortunately the Dutch publisher of my book has posted some of those movies on their server, inluding the tv-report of the Australian show A Current Affair, which has never been seen online before. So, enjoy!
I travelled in five months from the West of Canada to the East Coast via the
Cold North. This was the videoreport of the third week in Canada.
Through the West coast of Canada I ended up in the snowy part of the country,
near the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where I made my fourth weekly movie.
The Canadian media followed me closely. I travelled further north and could even
borrow my hostess' car. Oops.
A visit to the Northern solitairy city Kugluktuk in the Nunavut territory. You
can only reach it with an airplane and the temperature is always below zero
Celsius. I'll never forget that week.
Scroll down for
rare online video reports!
So, what was this website about? On this website I show you that it is possible to travel for free. I figured out that one person can easily share one day of life with somebody else and help out with the basic essentials, like food and a place to sleep. I asked people to let me stay for a day at their place, in return I shared the experiences in the daily reports of this website.
Where are you now? From February 17 until July 26 I have travelled from the Netherlands to Canada and travelled all the way through Canada for these five months.
Once back home I decided to quit and continue with a more normal life.
Where
have you been? Since May 1, 2001 I have already travelled through
- The Netherlands
- Belgium
- France
- England
- Austria
- Isle of Man
- Ireland
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- Denmark
- Norway
- Sweden
- South Africa
- Spain
- Hong Kong
- Australia
- Canada
How much money have you personally spent
on all these travels? NOTHING since May 1, 2001, when my travels started. I travel from place to place with the help of my thumb. Long distances have (so far) been sponsored by companies who get free advertising in return. When I am actively traveling and writing, this website receives over 1 million hits per month.
I only paid US$ 35 for the domainname before this project got started. Donations along the road are not counted in.
Sure Ramon, but how did you cover those air fares? How did you cross oceans?
The travel company Etravel.co.za in Johannesburg sponsored me to South Africa in 2001 and Tnfsh.com supported me to Australia last year.
In the beginning of this year I got an email from a lady from Calgary who offered to help me to get to Canada. She bought a full ticket with her aeroplan points.
How many invites did you gettotally ?
Until I put a lock on the invite-me-over-page, I had already received 3,577 invitations from 72
countries.
Hey, I hope you were not only
freeloading on others! What did you
do in return? All I asked was some help in food and a place to sleep. In return I wrote
about everything in the daily reports on this website. About how I got
there, about my hosts, maybe their cooking, their life, dreams and
whatever happens when I was there.
This website currently contains some 500 diary entries and over 7,500 photographs
in the reports.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER:
Let-Me-Stay-For-A-Day.com is a
patent pending Internet project by Ramon Stoppelenburg. This is the the Official
Letmestayforaday website. The author (Ramon Stoppelenburg) retains all rights, present and future, to the
Letmestayforaday-project.
The author shall not be held responsible for any damages, direct or indirect, that may arise from the use of or interaction with the
Letmestayforaday-project. The author accepts no commitment or liability to support the
Letmestayforaday-projector to address any problems
that may be encountered with it.
I shared popcorn with Geri Halliwell and shook hands with Steve 'The
Crocodile Hunter' Irwin. Britney Spears was published next to me in an American
newspaper and even in The Netherlands many magazines wrote about me and my
adventures.
In the last two years I have travelled through 18 countries, personally met
some 10,000 people on the road, slept in 500 different beds, ate some 1,500
meals and had some 600 showers. I have always wanted to travel because of the
cultures, the flavors, the scents, the people. I visited people in Africa,
Australia and North America, where I got all the way to the icey north of
Canada.
Of course it flattered me a lot when a tv-crew would follow me around for a
day (or more). And it was always interesting to tell people where my hometown
Zwolle can be found. "East of Amsterdam," I'd say. "Oh yes, Amsterdam!"
You might understand now that I sometimes felt trapped in a cage that I had
created mysefl. When I wanted to get out, I knew I simply couldn't. It was like
having a full time job and the website was the family I had to support. If I
didn't do my thing well enough, my kids would complain.
I decided to do something else: to spend a period to write the book Letmestayforaday.com about my
travels. Something that's not virtual but real and where stories don'
t have to
keep a website alive, only memory. You will enjoy it, I know.
